Place meat, salt, water, spices, onion, garlic and ginger in a large pan and bring to boil, stirring occasionally. Lower heat and skim if necessary.This works splendidly even without sealing or frying the meat at all

Cover and simmer 1¼ hours until meat is tender. Remove lid for last 15 minutes until most of the liquid has reduced. Away from the heat add the coconut cream, double cream and yoghurt. Stir constantly until the coconut cream melts. Heat gently for 10-15 minutes without boiling, sprinkle with chopped coriander. Serve.

Heat oil and fry fenugreek seeds until browned. Reduce heat then add spinach and remaining ingredients, mix thoroughly. Cover and leave to cook in their own juices for 20-25 minutes.

Heat oil and fry cumin seeds until they crackle. Reduce the heat and add the cauliflower. Add the remaining dry ingredients and mix well. Partly cover and cook until the vegetables are tender and dry, tossing frequently. Whisk the soured cream and stir in to the vegetables. Heat through without boiling and serve.

Heat butter, add onion and courgettes and stir-fry for 10 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and stir-fry for 5-10 minutes. Serve.

Chop the okra into 2" pieces
Fry the methi, add the okra and cook till tender. Add salt.

Split the coconut, discard the liquid, if necessary remove the husk and use a scraper to remove the flesh from both halves onto a plate, taking care not to include the dark inner lining of the shell.
Divide the scraped coconut into two and set to one aside. Pour ½ the cold water over ½ the coconut and mix well using your hand. Place a fine strainer over a bowl and squeezing firmly, allow the coconut milk to drip into the bowl.
Set aside the squeezed coconut and repeat with the other half.
You can add the coconut milk for a thinner sauce.

Hard boil the eggs, cool and remove the shells, cut in half lengthwise. Skin the onion, garlic, tomato and ginger; slice them thinly. Heat the ghee and fry the onion, garlic and ginger. Add the washed curry leaves, garam masala, chilli and turmericd, fry, stirring gently until the spices separate from the oil. Add salt and santan, bring to simmering point stirring all the time until the sauce thickens.

Drain the soaked mushrooms, slice and add to mixture. Simmer 5 minutes then add sliced tomato, continue cooking 2-3 minutes until soft. Carefully add the halved eggs, cover for 2-3 minutes to warm, then remove carefully to a warmed serving dish and cover with sauce.

Heat oil and fry cumin seeds until they crackle. Add sweetcorn, ground coriander, garam masala, chopped fresh coriander, salt and tomatoes and stir well. Cover and cook gently for 20-25 minutes.

Alternatively - using 2 cans sweetcorn, after frying the cumin seeds just stir-fry all the ingredients until heated through. Do not add salt as the brin solution provides sufficient.

Soak a small fistful of tamarind in 3 fl oz hot water until pulpy and then vigorously squeeze out the juice through a fine sieve or a piece of muslin. If a recipe requires a larger quantity of tamarind juice, adjust the quantities accordingly.

Wash the potatoes and then boil them until three quarters done. When cool enough to handle, peel them and leave them whole if they are small or cut them into cubes. Leave aside.

Soak the chillies in a little warm water until soft. Drain and grind them together with the cumin seeds and garlic. Heat the oil in a large heavy pan and fry the ground paste until the oil separates. Add the potatoes, tamarind juice, curry leaves and salt to taste. Mix well but gently to prevent the potatoes breaking up. Reduce the heat to the lowest setting, cover the pan and allow to simmer until the raw tamarind juice flavour disappears. Garnish and serve hot. Delicious with pourris.

Steam the potatoes until crisp-tender, about 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Have the spices measured out and ready, right next to the stove. Heat the oil in a large, heavy-bottomed casserole or lidded frying pan and add the onions. Stir-fry, stirring constantly, for 10 minutes over medium-low heat or until they are beginning to be light brown. Add the ginger and fry for an additional ½ minute (add more oil if necessary), then add all the spices and stir together for another 30 seconds. Add the potatoes, tomatoes, half the yoghurt and salt to taste, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer gently, covered, for about 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. Stir from time to time to prevent sticking.

Remove from the heat, let sit a minute and stir in the remaining yoghurt.
Adjust salt and serve.

Steam the potatoes until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain and refresh under cold water, and set aside.

Have the spices measured out and ready, right next to the stove. Heat the oil over medium heat in a large, heavy-bottomed sacuepan or deep, lidded frying pan. Add the mustard seeds and cook until they begin to turn grey and the spluttering begins to subside. Add the optional split peas and fry until light brown, about ½ to 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add the ginger and chillies, cook for 1 minute, add the ground coriander, turmeric and paprika. Stir together and add the onions. Saute, stirring, for 5 minutes, or until beginning to brown. Add the potatoes and fry 5 minutes, adding more oil if necessary.

Add 4 cups hot water and sea salt to taste, and bring to a simmer. Simmer, covered, over low heat for 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.

Remove 1½ cups of the mixture and purée in a blender. Return to the pot and mix together well. Adjust salt. Heat through, stirring (a layer may stick to the bottom fo the pot but don't let this worry you). Stir in the lemon juice and coriander and serve at once.

Cut a cross on the heads of the Brussels sprouts and set aside. In a large pan or wok heat the oil and fry the onions until golden brown in colour. Reduce the heat and add the ground paste and fry until the oil separates. Add the Brussels sprouts and tomatoes and mix well. Add salt to taste and fry for about 5 minutes. Add the coconut milk and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat again and cook uncovered until the sprouts are done and there is a thick gravy. Serve hot with rice or bread.

Cut the cobs into three pieces, using a heavy knife or a chopper as this will make clean cuts and avoid damaging the kernels. Heat the oil plenty of oil in a wok or a large pan and fry the cob pieces until golden brown on all sides. Remove and set aside. Remove any excess oil leaving about 4 tablespoons in the wok or pan. Heat the oil and fry the ground paste until the raw smell disappears. Add the remaining ingredients except the yoghurt and cob pieces. Cook for about 2 minutes on a medium heat or until the oil separates. Reduce the heat and gradually add the yoghurt, mixing well to avoid curdling. (It curdled!) Add the cob pieces and cover them with the gravy. Cover the wok or pan and allow to simmer until the corn is cooked and the gravy thick. 30 min?
Serve hot with lemon wedges and chopped coriander leaves.

Do not hesitate to use your fingers and, after biting off the kernels, suck the corn as it will have absorbed all the delicious gravy. This makes a pleasant starter, if the guests clean up afterwards.

Cut the chicken into 8 pieces.
Slice the mushrooms and onions, quarter the tomatoes, and squeeze the lemon.
Mix spices B into the lemon juice.
Heat the ghee and add spices A, fry briefly, add the chicken pieces and fry until golden.
Remove and keep hot.
Add the sliced mushrooms and onions, stir until pale golden. Return the chickn and mix. Then add the lemon juice and salt to taste.
Stir through and add the tomatoes.
Raise the heat and stir so the moisture is quickly absorbed by the chicken.

Serve sprinkled with chopped coriander leaves.

Dry roast and grind together the hot spices.
Cut the meat into ¼" strips, 2"x4", beat to tenderise then mix spices A in a bowl and stir in the meat strips. Coat well.
Heat 4 tablespoons ghee, add the meat, cover and cook gently. When all the water from the meat and yoghurt has evaporated, brown the meat by adding asafoetida water one teaspoon at a time, turn the meat over and scrape the pan clean. Repeat the process until the meat is well browned - use plain water after the 4th time.
Add spices B and 1 tablespoon of the ground hot spices, stir well and brown a little more. Add a little water and cook until tender.
The dish is ready when only a trace of gravy remains.

Peel and cut up the yam you can rub oil on your hands before peeling the yams to prevent itching. Fry the pieces in oil until they brown, and drain.
Finely mince the onions, garlic, ginger and chilli. Heat the oil, add the spices A and fry for one minute. Add the onion mixture and fry until golden.
Add spices B, fry for one minute then add the tomatoes and cook to a pulp.
Return the fried yam pieces, stir well, add water, simmer until the sauce thickens.
Serve sprinkled with chopped coriander or parsley leaves.

Boil the small spuds in their skins, peel then deep-fry them until golden. Drain. Heat 2 tablespoons oil add spices A and fry until the cumin seeds pop, then add spices B. Stir-fry until the tomatoes pulp and the oil separates to float on top. Add the fried potatoes and the cauliflower if using and stir-fry for a few minutes.
Add a little water to make a sauce to taste, cover and simmer until the potatoes absorb the sauce a little.

Wash and slice the aubergines into ⅛" rounds.
Soak for 1 hour in cold water, pat dry.
Mix the powders and a little water to make a paste. Apply the paste to coat the aubergine slices.
Heat the mustard oil until a litle blue smoke issues, then fry the bhajees until golden.

Heat mustard oil to smoking point, add cloves and turmeric. Cook for a few seconds then add the washed and dried meat. Stirring, brown to a pale golden colour.
Lightly whisk the yoghurt and add it to the meat. Stirring, cook until the oil floats.
Add spices A and the chilli.
Stir fry for a few mins. Cover and cook on a low heat for ½ hour until the meat is tender.
Add spices B, stir-fry for a few minutes, cover and simmer for a another minute then serve sprinkled with crushed green cardamom seeds.

Wash and dry the lamb and cut into 1" pieces.
Remove the very ends from the spring onions and roughly chop the onions and their stalks.
Crush the garlic and finely chop the ginger, coriander leaves and chillies.
Peel and chop the tomatoes
Heat the ghee, add all the chopped ingredients and salt to taste.
Place the meat on top and add ¼ pint water.
Stir then cover and cook on low until the meat is tender.

Soak the lamb in cold water for one hour. Finely chop the onions and stir-fry until golden in 8oz ghee Seems like too much ghee!
Stir the onions and ghee into the yoghurt.
Squeeze the meat pieces dry and prick them all over with a fork.
Grind together spices A to a fine paste, and apply this to the meat and prick it again.
Cover for half an hour then add to the yoghurt mix together with spices B. Stir well and leave to marinate for 4-5 hours.

Either:
Wash the rice in several changes of water. Put the meat, marinade and drained rice in a casserole, cover with a very tight lid and seal with dough paste.
Cook at Gas 6/400°F for 15 minutes, then at Gas 1/275°F for 25-30 minutes until the moisture has dried up.

Or:
Don't add the ghee to the yoghurt mix and use it now: Heat the ghee and stir-fry the meat and marinade until the meat is almost tender and the sauce thickens.
Cover and cook slowly whilst thoroughly washing the rice, parboil the rice with 2½ pints of water then drain it.
Now lay alternating 2" layers of meat and rice in a greased casserole.
Seal with dough paste and cook at Gas 5/375°F for 20-30 mins until the rice is cooked.

Add water to wholemeal flour to make a soft, sticky dough with which to seal casseroles.

Melt the butter in a large frying pan and add the ginger, garlic and onions. Cook 1-2 minutes, then stir in the chilli and coriander.
Trim the pork fillets of most of their stringy coating and then cut into thin slices at a sharp angle.
Add to the pan and fry quickly until golden.
Remove and keep hot.
Stir in the salt and a little of the yoghurt. Stir and cook gently until the yoghurt evaporates. Continue cooking, gradually adding the remaining yoghurt until there is very little liquid left in the pan. Remove from the heat and stir in the remaining ingredients.
Bring to the boil and simmer for 5-10 minutes. Meanwhile heat the oil and fry the mushrooms lightly.
Serve the sauce with the pork fillet and mushrooms.

Salt the aubergines and set aside. Make the batter by mixing all dry ingredients together then whisk in the water until smooth. Leave to stand for 30 minutes.
Squeeze excess water from the aubergines and slice the potatoes into ¼" rounds. Heat the oil, dip the vegetables into the batter and fry, a few at a time, browning evenly.

Rinse the rice in cold water. Cover with more water and leave to soak for about an hour.
Heat 2 oz ghee/butter until golden. Add the chicken parts and brown them well. Pour over 3 pints water, add the salt and bring to a low boil. After 45 minutes remove any bones and process the stock, onions and meat to a purée.
Put the drained rice in a heavy casserole, mix well with the spices, carrots, raisins and puréed chicken mix. Add more water if necessary to cover the rice by ½". Bring to the boil, cover tightly so no steam can escape and simmer for about 10 minutes. Place the covered casserole in a low oven for around 40 minutes.
Serve.

Simmer the pork cubes in salted water until tender. Dry roast spices A and grind them to a fine paste together with spices B.
Heat 3 tablespoons of oil, stir-fry the onions to a golden brown. Add the ground paste. Stir-fry for a few minutes, then add the drained pork, stir well, cover and cook until the pork is really tender and has absorbed some sauce. You can add water to produce enough sauce, and simmer until the oil rises.

Peel and cut the bananas into ½" slices. Deep fry quickly in hot oil. Drain. Grind together spices A to a fine paste. Heat 3 tablespoons oil/ghee and fry the onion paste to a rich gold, then add spices B. Stir-fry for a few minutes until the oil separates then add the lightly beaten yoghurt stirring. Fry this mexutre until it turns a rich red colour and the oil separates.
Add about one pint water, bring to the boil then cover and simmer for a few minutes to thicken. Add the fried bananas, cover and cook for 10-15 minutes.
Serve sprinkled with chopped coriander.

Put the tamarind in half a cup of hot water and mix it - breaking up the tamarind with a spoon. Sieve off the juice and set aside.
Fry the onion in 2 oz ghee/butter/oil, add the gravy ingredients and cook with one cup of water for 7-10 minutes. Add the tamarind juice and salt to taste.
Gently break in the eggs and simmer for 3 minutes without stirring until they are poached through.

Wash the dal well, drain, put in 1½ pints water. Bring to the boil and skim off skum. Add the ginger and turmeric. Cover and simmer for 1-1½ hours or until the dal is no longer grainy. When done a purée settles out and a thin water rises. Stir the dal a few times during the last 15 minutes, add the salt, stir and keep warm.
Heat the oil in a small pot. When hot add the asafoetida, the a second later the cumin. When the seeds sizzle add the red chillies and turn them so that all sides darken. This should take 10 seconds.
Quickly pour the oil and spices into the warm dal, cover for a minute to absorb the flavour.
Serve.

There are many variations of the final flavourings (or Tarka), listed above. The last is suggested for a Mung bean dal.

Prick the potatoes all over with a fork and leave to soak in water for half an hour. Drain and dry. Deep-fry in ghee til golden. Remove and drain.
Meanwhile, grind the poppy seeds, almonds, cumin, coriander, cloves, peppercorns and cardamoms with the ginger and garlic, adding a little water to make a paste. Fry the onions in two tablespoons ghee, stir in the paprika, turmeric, salt and the masala paste. Fry for five minutes and stir in the yoghurt. Add the fried potatoes and garam masala and cook for a further five minutes.
Serve hot with puris.

Boil the milk, stirring continuously, til it is reduced to a quarter of the quantity. You can use the equivalent volume of condensed milk, though the taste will not be the same. Stir in the sugar. Remove from the heat. Allow to cool and stir in the rose water. Pour into a dish and garnish with the chopped nuts and cardamom.
Serve chilled.

Mix the rice flour with enough milk to make a thick paste. Boil the rest of the milk until it is reduced to half the quantity. Stir in the rice flour paste and sugar. Remove from the heat and add the rest of the ingredients. Mix well and put in the freezing tray of the refrigerator. Serve as ice cream.

Thoroughly wash and dry the okra and cut off the stalk ends. (If any moisture remains on them they will become slimy during cooking.)
Wash and dry the meat and cut into 1½" pieces.
Grind together the paste ingredients into a fine paste.

Heat 3 tablespoons ghee in a saucepan and as soon as it starts to sizzle add the chopped onion. Stir-fry to a pale golden colour.
Add the meat, cook until all the water that is released from it has dried up and the meat turns a nice brown colour. At this stage the ghee will start to separate from the meat and the meat will have a lovely shiny glaze on it.
Add the ground onion, spices and salt to taste. Stir-fry for another few minutes until they are well absorbed.
Strain the yoghurt through a clean cloth to rid it of any excess water. Add this to the meat and spices.
Stir-fry until the yoghurt too has been completely absorbed, and the meat and spices take on a rich brown colour. The ghee will again have separated and the masala will start to stick to the bottom. This is an indication that the meat is ready for the addition of water for the sauce, but before doing this, add the okra.
Stir-fry for another few minutes so that the okra can absorb some of the masala. Finally add the water.
Give the meat a good stir and leave it to simmer until both okra and meat are tender.

Serve piping hot with chappati or parathas.

Heat the ghee, add the roughly chopped onion, stir-fry to a pale golden colour.
Lightly crush the spices and add with the salt to the meat.
Stir-fry this continuously until all the moisture has evaporated and the meat becomes brown. At this stage the ghee will start to separate.
Grind the paste ingredients and add them to the meat.

Stir-fry for another few minutes. Strain the yoghurt through a fine muslin cloth to rid it of any excess water. Add this to the meat and the masala. Keep on stirring it until the yoghurt has been absorbed into the meat and the whole dish begins to take on a glazed appearance. The masala will stick to the bottom of the pan and there will be fierce sizzling sounds, that is the indication that the meat is ready for the addition of water. Add water according to individual taste, but for a fairly rich sauce add about one pint to this quantity of meat.

Serve really hot with parathas.

Wash the greens, discard the stalks and thinly slice the leaves.
Heat the oil, fry the kalanji until they fizz and release their aroma. Keep the pan hot and add the greens, chilli, coriander and stir briskly. Sprinkle on the salt, stir and fry on high heat for 3-5 minutes until all the water is expelled and the volume deteriorates.

Cut the fish into 1" steaks. Cut straight across the fish and rinse out the innards from each slice. You can use mackerel, salmon, hake, trout, halibut or cod, but just not a flat fish.
Coat the open cuts in the mackerel with haldi and salt. Heat oil almost covering the bottom of a pan and fry the onions and green chilli til soft. Sprinkle the remaining? powders on and mix well. Keeping the pan hot, fry the fish pieces until sealed, cover (add a little water if necessary) and simmer for 10-15 minutes until cooked. Turn the heat off, add the mustard and stir well.
Leave to sit briefly, then serve.
If using coriander leaves instead of mustard, cook a little after adding the leaves.

I fried up some cinnamon and cardamom in butter (don't burn it!) then I threw in the chopped-up parsnips and some carrots (it's what I had).
After they softened a little I added quite a generous amount of pressed garlic and forced through a bare handful of sultanas too.
I then sprinkled on a little paprika (actually cayenne pepper), desiccated coconut (though creamed would probably have been better) and salt, let the spices sizzle a little then poured on a small can of evaporated milk and the same volume of milk. I think cream would have been preferable.
I crushed two or three pinches of saffron over the curry and stirred it in. Then I just sealed the pan tightly, and left it to simmer on extremely low heat until the liquid was mostly absorbed (perhaps half an hour).

Cut cauliflower florets in such a way that no piece is longer than 1½" and no wider at the head than ¾". Longer stems, if tender, may be peeled and slice into rounds.
Put the coconut into a small heated cast-iron frying pan over a medium flame. Dry-roast the coconut, stirring frequently until lightly browned, then empty into a bowl.
Put sesame seeds into the same pan and roast, shaking the pan frequently over a medium flame, until sesame seeds are lightly browned. Empty into bowl with the coconut.
Heat 1 Tbs oil in the same pan over a medium flame. Add the cashew nuts. Fry, stirring until cashews turn a light brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and put them with the coconut and sesame seeds. Turn off heat.
Empty contents of bowl into the container of an electric blender or a food processor. Add ¼ pt. water and the sliced green chilli. Blend until you have a smooth paste.
Heat 4 Tbs of oil in a large, heavy frying pan over a medium-high flame. When very hot, add the mustard seeds. As soon as they begin to pop (this will happen almost immediately), put in the cauliflower. Stir the cauliflower around on medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes: some of the florets should pick up a few brown specks. Now add the paste from the blender, ½ pt. water, the salt, sugar and lemon juice. Stir to mix. Bring to the boil. Cover. Lower heat and simmer gently about 10 to 15 minutes or until cauliflower is cooked through but still a bit crisp. Stir now and then during the cooking.

Snip off both ends of each okra, slice lengthwise into four slices.

Spread all sliced okra on a flat dish and sprinkle evenly with salt, chilli powder, garam masala, mango powder and chaat masala. Mix gently to caot okra evenly. Now sprinkle gram flour over the okra and mix in so they are coated evenly, without adding any water preferably.

Divide the okra into two portions. Heat oil in a kadhai (wok) or a pan til it is smoking. Fry one portion cated okra slices, separating each lightly with a fork. Do not allow slices to stick to each other.

Remove from oil when both sides are crispy and brown in colour. Fry the other portion in the same way and serve at once, garnished with julienned ginger and green chillies and accompanied by chappatis.